... Benedict Edward Hall (ca. 1744-1822) ...
HALL, BENEDICT EDWARD (ca. 1744^1822).
BORN: ca. 1744 in St. George's Parish, Baltimore County; second surviving son.
NATIVE: fourth generation.
RESIDED: at "Shandy Hall," Spesutia Lower Hundred, Harford County.
FAMILY BACKGROUND.
FATHER: John Hall (1701-1774).
MOTHER: Hannah (1711-1782).
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MARRIED in 1781 Milcah (1756-?), daughter of Amos Garrett (1723-ca.-1789) and wife Frances Drew (1727-by 1786).
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PRIVATE CAREER.
EDUCATION: literate.
RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION Anglican, St. George's Parish, Harford County; elected lay delegate to the Protestant Episcopal Church Convention, 1788. SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Gent.; third generation legislator. OCCUPATIONAL PROFILE: planter; associated with the mercantile firm of Walter T. Hall & Co., Havre de Grace, Harford County.
PUBLIC CAREER.
LEGISLATIVE SERVICE:
- Conventions, Harford County, 1st, 1774, 4th, 1775, 5th, 1775;
- Senate, Western Shore, Term of 1776-1781:
- 1781 (elected on June 12, 1781, to fill vacancy in the 1780-1781 Assembly; qualified on June 17, 1781), Term of 1781-1786: 1781-1782, 1782-1783, 1783, 1784, 1785.
LOCAL OFFICES:
- St. George's Parish Vestry, Harford County, in office 1771-1774, 1784, 1787, 1792-1793, 1798-1800;
- justice, Baltimore County, 1772-1773, Harford County, 1774-1788;
- commissioner, Harford County, appointed 1773;
- Committee of Correspondence, Harford County, elected 1774;
- justice, Orphans' Court, Harford County, appointed 1777, in office 1784-1789;
- commissioner of tax, Harford County, 1777-1779;
- commissioner, Havre de Grace, Harford County, appointed 1785;
- associate justice, Third District Circuit Court, Harford County, 1789-at least 1800.
MILITARY SERVICE: enrolled in Company No. 1, Harford County Militia, 1775; enrolled in Company No. 2, Harford Rifles, Flying Camp, 1776.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: 13 slaves, 1776; assessed value £1,349.0.0 current money, including 26 slaves, 1783; inherited the personal estate of Amos Garrett (1723-ca. 1789) in 1789, with a value of at least £329.0.0 current money before payment of debts.
LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: 1,971 acres in Harford County (inherited from his
father in 1774).
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: purchased ca. 400 acres in Harford County in the 1780s; assessed for 2,133 acres in Harford County, 1783; inherited a life estate in ca. 659 acres from Amos Garrett (1723-ca. 1789) in 1789; mortgaged his home plantation in 1801(released in 1811) and sold over 425 acres by 1810 to pay debts, some of which had been incurred by Walter T. Hall & Co.; purchased 5 lots in Havre de Grace, Harford County, and gave his eldest son at least 1,300 acres of his home plantation shortly before his death.
WEALTH AT DEATH.
DIED: will probated on April 24, 1822, in Harford County.
PERSONAL PROPERTY:
TEV, $1,794.44 current money;
FB, $653.46.
LAND: at least 236 acres in Harford County were mentioned in his will, all of which were probably already in the possession of his sons; 5 lots in Havre de Grace, Harford County.
